Ajax is really serious about Steven Bergwijn, says Mike Verweij in the football podcast of The Telegraph. Sky Sports reported on Thursday that manager Antonio Conte foresees an important role for the 24-year-old attacker, so that a departure from Tottenham Hotspur would not be an option at the moment. Verweij emphasizes that Ajax will have to persevere to bring in Bergwijn in the winter transfer window.
“We don’t have to attach much importance to Conte’s words, because he ensured that Bergwijn did not come to Italy when he was in the interest of Inter”, Verweij starts in Kick-Off, such as ‘s football podcast The Telegraph is called. “He is just not charmed by Bergwijn, although he has now drafted him in the EFL Cup and said that he should show it. He did that with a goal and an assist, only this is the third tournament in England and is not much.”
Bergwijn opened the score on Wednesday in the EFL Cup match with West Ham United (2-1 win). The winger also provided the assist for the winning goal and he could count on praise from Conte afterwards. “We will see in the near future whether he actually gets more playing time. Then you can see if they really want to continue with him. But Ajax is really serious about him”, emphasizes Verweij, Ajax watcher for The Telegraph. Ajax would have already expressed its interest at Tottenham at the beginning of December.
“But what also plays a role is that Bergwijn was polled twice before. The first time when he still played for PSV, the second time last summer. Ajax did not go through on two occasions. So the chance that Bergwijn will come to Ajax depends very much on Ajax”, says Verweij. The arrival of Bergwijn would be related to the future of David Neres at Ajax. “Bergwijn now just wants to hear: ‘Ajax is out with Spurs, you can earn this and you can come’. Then he wants to think about it and probably says ‘yes’. It is no longer the case that he keeps waiting for Ajax. A top Spanish club is also interested, which seems to be Sevilla. Tottenham are looking for defenders and they have to sell players in order to buy.”
‘Part of Brobbey’s management already wants an option to buy’
It currently seems that Ajax will strengthen itself with Brian Brobbey in January. “He is on his way to Ajax, only the clubs still have to reach an agreement. It was already there, basically. Only that was without an option to buy,” says Verweij. “The management of Brobbey, or at least part of his management, thinks it is wise to include an option to purchase in the lease agreement, because otherwise you will get thunder next summer and you can start from scratch.”
Verweij states that Brobbey ‘normally’ comes to Ajax and says that the striker was already medically examined last Wednesday. “Ajax does not need an option to buy if necessary. They just want to use it for the next six months. It remains to be seen how well he does, because he has played very little. How fit is he? Fit enough to keep up Erik ten Hag’s playing style for ninety minutes? That demands a lot from a player. If you haven’t played football for a long time, you should see how someone is doing. I think Ajax wanted to wait and see, in order to possibly negotiate in the summer. But Brobbey’s management would rather have an option to buy now.”